August - October Haul 2023

 There is really a general theme for my purchases in 2023 - and the theme is called makeup brushes!! 

The main haul of Augsut - October 2023

Sephora makeup brushes

Testers from Sephora

Elf - Halo glow liquid filter - 1 fair (31.5 ml): This is supposed to be a dupe for the famous Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood flawless filter. I have never tried the CT one, but this one looks promising. I will for sure have to work on a primer in 2024 for my project pan as I seem to have accumulated quite a few throughout the last few years. 

Glow recipe x Barbie - Watermelon glow pink juice moisturizer (25 ml) and Watermelon glow niacinamide dew drops serum (15 ml): My friend asked me to grab one of these sets when I was in the US - and when I saw the packaging, a pink metal box I knew I had to grab one for myself as well. 

Generic Value Products - Color protecting shampoo, compare to Matrix biolage color last shampoo (473 ml): My friend recommended this brand in Sally's Beauty, so I decided to grab a bottle, as I knew Matrix was a good brand, as my mom used to use that brand in her hair salon. 

First aid beauty - KP smoothing body lotion with 10% AHA (170 g): I have the suspicion I suffer from keratosis pilaris (KP) on my legs, as they tend to be red and spotty. It could also just be eczema as in later years I have skin inflammation issues on my face, so it would be no surprise I have developed KP - so when at Ulta in Target I grabbed a tube with me to give a try. 

Neutrogena -  Rapid wrinkle repair regenerating cream, accelerated retinol SA (48 g): I seriously had a shock after one of my flights to the US in October - the lighting in the restroom in my hotel room was too good, so I was able to spot some fine lines I had never spotted before, I went straight to Youtube to find a good retinol for sensitive skin, and this one was one of the ones that came highly recommended. 

Glossier - Monochrome essential eyeshadow trio in almond (3.9 g): I am always drawn into small eyeshadow palettes (over bigger ones), and this came recommended by a few of the youtubers I tend to watch. I usually draw in a dark brown to complete the look, but I have one dark brown single laying around that pairs perfectly with this one, so I am not very disappointed by the fact that this is just a trio instead of a quad. Though quad for the packaging would have been nice. 

Goden Rose - Mega volume city style mascara (9 ml): this purchase broke one my rules for 2023 - not to buy any mascara, but as I was traveling around in Turkey, I just had to grab one of my favorite mascara on that trip. 

Sephora - Pro foundation 47: I got tempted to buy this brush and the following during the latest Sephora sale, on 30% discount.

Sephora - Pro shadow 14: I also got this one on a Sephora 30% sale - in retrospect maybe I should have gotten the smaller eyeshadow brush number 15.

Sephora beauty insider - Glow recipe - Watermelon glow niacinamide dew drops (15 ml) and Watermelon glow PHA + BHA pore tight toner (25 ml): I was gifted these products and the following while browsing in Sephora, Georgetown Washington.

JVN - Complete air dry cream (20 ml): I was also gifted this item in Sephora. I am not entirely sure what is the purpose of this product, do we need a cream in the hair to let it air dry now?

Did you buy something of late?

According to my calculations I have purchased 9 colored items of the 12 I set my self out as a maximum purchase of 2023 of colored cosmetics products - then to that number I can add 3 sample sizes:

Ilia - The necessary eyeshadow palette in cool nude

Maybelline - eyeshadow in nude glow

Inglot - matte eyeshadow in 356

RMS Beauty - Buriti bronzer

Kjær Weis - brown eyeliner

Nars - gloss in Turkish delight

Elf - Halo glow liquid filter

Golden Rose - City style mascara

Glossier - eyeshadow trio in Almond

Ilia - Multi stick in at last (mini)

Ilia - Limitless mascara (mini)

Rose inc - tinted serum (tester)

Total of 12 colored cosmetics, three of the items are testers/gift with purchase sizes, so I wonder if they should could towards the total 12 count? Still there is quite some product in those samples.

What of the items I purchased I could have skipped? Or which of these I did not like so much in retrospect? Number one that comes to mind, and most likely the only item on this list; the Inglot eyeshadow, it is superdry and almost no pigment comes off from it.

Best purchase? The eyeliner from Kjær Weis and the Turkish delight gloss from Nars - those two are amazing. 

Nota bene I have not started to use the following: Ilia multi stick, Ilia mascara, Rose inc tinted serum, Elf halo glow and the Golden rose mascara..

Holiday Haul

During my holiday in Turkey I picked up a few things, and on the way, in the duty free and in Berlin as I had a few hours in the city in between my connecting flights.

Holiday haul

Mistic perfumum in Z21 and Z20- copies of fragrances from high street brands, I do not consider myself to support the knock-off industry but as these were gifted to me and smell quite nice I use them from time to time.

Sin Kov - the best anti mosquito spray I have ever used, so I bought a back-up to use on holiday next time.

EVY technology sunscreen mousse spf 30 - this is a re-launch of Proderm, and has never failed me before, but I have actually started to think my skin is getting more sensitive, and I might need spf 50 as I managed to get red after sunbathing. 

Golden Rose maxim eyes and city style mascaras. I have bought the city style before and loved it.

Clinique mineral sunscreen fluid for face. I loved this sunscreen, it did not irritate my perioral dermatitis at all, probably as it is not a chemical sunscreen, but a mineral one. 

Kiko stick eyeshadow in 05 rosy brown - this I bought in Berlin, am still testing it out.

Flormar Flashe baked eyeshadow in 04 peachy dazzles. This brand is Turkish and I just had to pick one up, it is pink to me, and higly pigmennted. (So now I have actually broken the low buy by buying 2 eyeshadow products after finishing 5 items from my finish 10 beauty goals for 2016).

Kiko stick eyeshadow in 05 rosy brown and Flormar Flash baked eye shadow in 04 peachy dazzles

Empties September - December 2015

I did not finish a lot of products during this time, one of the reasons might be that I have developed a skin condition called perioral dermatitis, which describes itself with a rash around the mouth (and can appear around eyes also). Thus I have been very hesitant to use new facial products, as it started in the beginning of September, when I started using a new facial wash, a new moisturizer and a toner I had not used in over 2 months. It is really hard to cover up, as makeup can make it worse. I have now been on a 2 month antibiotic tablet course, which has made it disappear. But it might come again, so I need to be super careful of what I use on my skin, and have become very skeptical regarding different products, I have not dared to use the moisturizer or the facial wash I had just started when the PD (perioral dermatitis) appeared. So I might do a another post soon on products that I am afraid to use, as they might have been the PD trigger, either due to ingredients or the fact the products I have are turning old.

But here are my empties for Septemer - December 2015:

Empties September-December 2015

John Freida full repair full body conditioner - a good and softening conditioner, but nothing spectacular. Over priced, might buy again when on discount

Lumene bright touch refreshing cleansing foam - super nice facial foam wash

Golden Rose mega volume and length city style mascara - I think this mascara has tiny black fibers in it, it did not bother my eyes, and was super nice and the price in Turkey was great (wish I had bought this type again)

Nivea pure and natural regenerating night care - very nice night cream, my first night cream in fact. Now the bottle comes in plastic which makes me not want to buy it, as it is cheap looking.

Turkey Haul - what made it home

Bioderma; I picked up the legendary Bioderma micellar water - and I'm testing it out as we speak - but truth be told I can not spot the difference between this and the Garnier micellar water.
Nivea sun bronze and protect sunscreen spf 30: picked this up in Turkey as I imagined it would be a lot cheaper in Turkey compared to Greece - which turned out to be the case as i paid about 1200 ISK for it in Migros supermarket in Marmaris, compared to INKA supermarket in Greece where it was about 2100 ISK. Like it a lot, only downside: it contains parabens.
Golden rose maxim eyes mascara
Favorite sun - after sun aloe vera gel: the cheapest I could find in Side and was 15 turkish liras. It works fine
Golden rose miracle lash mascara
Elidor shampoo and conditiones (this bottle represents both) - pretty good for the price
Sephora glass file
Sephora pink tweezers